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Undergraduate student's research contributions published

Former SPIRE scholar, Dr. Jenny Tenlen recently published her work that involved an undergraduate student, Shaina McCaskill, from one of SPIRE's partner institutions, Fayetteville State University. The paper was published in the journal Development Genes and Evolution and provides the first evidence that a technique called RNA interference can disrupt gene function in the model system, Tardigrades, commonly referred to as water bears. McCaskill worked on the project during the summer of 2010 when she participated in SPIRE's Summer Research Program, mentored by Tenlen in Dr. Bob Goldstein's laboratory in the Department of Biology at UNC Chapel Hill.

Outcomes such as research publications that include collaborations between SPIRE scholars and undergraduate students represent an important outcome of SPIRE's impact on undergraduate education at our partner universities.